Stories From Our Past — Week of Nov. 8, 2018

Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…

1938

– Picton’s public library has having a great year with more than 2,000 additional volumes lent out over the first 10 months of 1938 compared to the same period in 1937. A new children’s room was considered a very popular place with reports of more than 50 visits a day.

– Harvey Schryver and Norman Tinney were able to recover $25 in silver pieces from the wreck of the steamer Quinte, which went aground on the North Fredericksburgh shore and caught fire in 1889. The captain, D.B. Christie, of Picton had remained at his post, limiting loss of life.

– Local business owners were advised to watch for patrons passing off Mexican five-peso notes for Canadian $5 bills.

1948

– Branch 78 of the Royal Canadian Legion was set to welcome Gov. Gen. Harold Alexander to the opening of its new hall Nov. 20. The visit was to be recorded and broadcast by CJBQ radio later in the day.

– Prince Edward County growers had a spirited discussion about the role graders play in the canning process. They expressed concern that graders were raising the level, rather than paying higher prices for their crops. One called the system a “farce.” They made suggestions on new training methods and alternative systems.

– At a coroner’s inquest into the fire-related deaths of four Prince Edward Heights residents, Picton councillor Norman Marsh said the town had offered Hallowell a fire protection agreement for the facility in 1976, but the township declined. While Marsh said he wasn’t insinuating lives would be saved, he felt Picton firefighters may have responded to the fire faster.

– The Royal Hotel featured a strip show at lunchtime in hopes of generating new business. About 20 people attended the show. The Fireside Inn was also considering an adult entertainment show in its future.

– The Wellington midget hockey team announced plans to host a travelling team from Dubendorf, Switzerland in February.

1998

– Officers from the Picton OPP and Kingston’s Joint Forces Drug Unit executed a search warrant on Miller Road and busted a very sophisticated hydroponic grow-op. The officers seized marijuana plants with a street value of over $800,000 and $10,000 worth of growing equipment. No arrests were made at the time of the search.

– Quinte MPP Doug Rollins questioned the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board on cuts that left some elementary schools without full-time secretaries. He considered it a safety issue.

– Picton’s Bill Conley was inducted into the Ontario Deaf Sports Association Hall of Fame. He started the hockey program at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.